In Pre-Calculus courses, students are taught the composition and combination of functions to model physical applications. However, when combining two or more functions into a single more complicated one, students may lose sight of the physical picture which they are attempting to model. A block diagram, or flow chart, in which each block…

Cryptology, the science of secret writing, is a great way to introduce students to different areas of mathematics such as number theory, linear algebra, probability and statistics. Cryptology consists of two branches: cryptography and cryptanalysis. Cryptography is the science of designing techniques for encrypting and decrypting a message.…

Documents the experiences of 25 first-year university students with regard to the kinds of tasks calculus instructors should design in order to engage students in mathematical practices that often require the use of a graphing calculator. (MM)

The advent of powerful Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) continues to dramatically affect curricula, pedagogy, and epistemology in secondary and college algebra classrooms. However, epistemological and pedagogical research regarding the role and effectiveness of CAS in the learning of algebra lags behind. This paper investigates concerns regarding…

Probably the one "new" mathematical topic that is most responsible for modernizing courses in college algebra and precalculus over the last few years is the idea of fitting a function to a set of data in the sense of a least squares fit. Whether it be simple linear regression or nonlinear regression, this topic opens the door to applying the…

For over a decade mathematics instructors have been using graphing calculators in courses ranging from developmental mathematics (Beginning and Intermediate Algebra) to Calculus and Statistics. One of the key functions that make them so powerful in the teaching and learning process is their ability to find curves of best fit. Instructors may use…

The chain rule is one of the hardest ideas to convey to students in Calculus I. It is difficult to motivate, so that most students do not really see where it comes from; it is difficult to express in symbols even after it is developed; and it is awkward to put it into words, so that many students can not remember it and so can not apply it…

The concept of percentile is a fundamental part of every course in basic statistics. Many such courses are now taught to students and require them to have TI-82 or TI-83 calculators. The functions defined in these calculators enable students to easily find the percentiles of a discrete data set. (PVD)

A current project for the Allegany College of Maryland Mathematics Department is using spreadsheets in some of their General Education Mathematics courses. It is important to note that one of the key features of this project is that is does not require an introductory computer course as a prerequisite for any of the mathematics courses that will…